The US is pressuring Israel to join the ill-advised sanctions regime against Russia which does not help Ukraine one iota and makes a diplomatic resolution more difficult. Israel is not a banana republic and has its own independent national interests. If this was an interest of secondary or tertiary importance then Israel would surely relent and do as the US wishes. However, the risk of an Anti-Semite (whether a leftwing Anti-Zionist or a rightwing populist) being elected president of the United States is increasing by the year. It is noteworthy that the US Democratic party and President Biden are doing absolutely nothing to halt the rapid mainstreaming of leftwing Anti-Semitism within the Democratic party itself and in Congress.
While Israel wants to remain aligned with the United States for perpetuity, the possibility that an Anti-Semite will become elected president of the United States as happened in Chile in 2021 looks increasingly feasible as US presidential primary elections are increasingly unpredictable. Once upon a time it was virtually guaranteed that both parties would elect moderates but not so anymore.
For Israel it is essential to be aligned with a great power with veto powers at the United Nations Security Council and Israel absolutely prefers that this ally is the United States. However, the US government cannot reasonably ask Israel to burn its bridges to either Russia or China as Israel needs great power alternatives should a hostile US president be elected who chooses to abandon Israel. The US demand that Israel impose sanctions on Russia is grossly insensitive to Israel’s existential interests and clearly crosses a red line.
Aliyah Organization 